Hagrid and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by grimesr1993
Summary: Hagrid has just been arrested for a crime he didn't commit, and his cell just happens to be directly across from an old friend. Told from Hagrid's and Harry's points of view.
1. Prologue: Laughing in the Dark

_Author's Notes: Hi, everyone. I figured I'd try my hand at this whole fanfiction thing a while back, but I didn't plan ahead enough and ended up just writing in circles. I've been working on this story for a while and I actually planned ahead this time and feel that it will be good enough to actually upload without feeling that I'm not progressing the story at all._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, nor do I expect to be able to do them justice. I will, however do my best to deliver a story suitable for the world that JK Rowling created for us._

 **Prologue: Laughing in the Dark**

Hagrid felt the cold it long before he saw the island, the cold dreadful feeling that accompanied the Azkaban guards. The dementors had a way of bringing back some people's worst childhood memories, but in this case they didn't need to do any work to bring the worst feelings out in Hagrid. Being imprisoned for a crime that he knew he didn't commit had done that for them. Transportation to Azkaban was strange for a wizard, or anyone who grew up in the wizarding world, as the only way into the inner parts of the island was on small boats. These boats had been enchanted to make the trip on their own, but Hagrid's weight had slowed to a near stop and the human guards that were accompanying him had been forced to row manually.

They arrived at the opening in the island just as the sun completed it's descent, or at least Hagrid assumed it had, because the light seemed to disappear almost entirely as they neared the island. The chill became much stronger as their boat entered the tunnel and the current quickened. His guards stopped rowing now, relieved by the boats new pace, and began talking in hushed tones all around him. As the boat moved deeper into the depths of Azkaban, Hagrid began to hear the most unsettling sounds. Most weren't cries or screams, as you would expect, but the hollow laughter of men who had lost all hope and gone completely mad. Hagrid wondered how long it would be before he joined their ranks, as a madman, laughing in the dark.


	2. Chapter 1: Old Friends

**A/N:** _I decided to throw up the first chapter today, along with the prologue. I didn't feel right just leaving 300ish words up. Let me know what you think._

 **Chapter 1: Old Friends**

The dementors led the way for Hagrid and his human guard, Hagrid's giant blood usually helped ward off the effects of the Azkaban guards, but he could feel their magic creeping in, filling him with despair. The man guiding him held a large key and a small book, "Hagrid, is it?" the man said, surprisingly pleasant considering the sheer amount of time he must spend near dementors, "Most folks come through here are either crying or shitting their pants, or both. You must be some kind of tough." Hagrid could place the man's accent almost immediately, American. "Really, this island isn't half as bad as the one I worked at before. Alcatraz is the worst. No dementors, but it's the damned tourists that drove me crazy. Always running around, coming dangerously close to finding things they shouldn't. The no maj's are convinced the place is haunted, but really they just sometimes find themselves too close to one of the underground cells when a prisoner is getting interrogated." He paused in front of a cell, looking puzzled for a moment, then seemed to regain himself, moving to the next cell and pulling the gate open. "This'll do, I reckon. Dementors probably won't bother you too much if you're truly innocent. At least that's what they told me, the things don't really bother me so maybe it's just all bullshit because I'm no saint."

Hagrid stepped into his cell and realized quickly that the cells here had not been made with a man his size in mind. The guard waved his wand and the cell expanded so that Hagrid could fit inside comfortably. Another wave made a large enough cot for him to sleep on appear from nowhere. He thanked the guard, who responded with a still too cheery "Don't mention it." and walked away from the cell, leaving Hagrid alone with his thoughts.

It was unclear to Hagrid how long he spent in complete silence before he heard it, someone, or something pacing in the cell adjacent to his. He stood, curious, and walked to the barred gate of his cell and looked across. What he saw astounded him. There was a dog, large but nearly starved, padding around in the adjacent cell. He stared as the dog turned to face him, head cocked to the side, and began to transform into a human.

The man across from him looked strangely familiar, but Hagrid couldn't place him. That is until he spoke, the voice was unmistakable and brought forth an anger that Hagrid hadn't felt in many years. "Hello Hagrid," said a very confused looking Sirius Black.

"Yer still alive? 'Course you are, I han't killed you yet." Hagrid said, snarling at the man who caused Harry to be left an orphan and Peter Pettigrew to be left in pieces on a muggle street.

"I know why you're angry, old friend, but yo-" Sirius began, before Hagrid cut him off.

"Old friend?! Yer no friend of mine, I wonder how many more of yer friends you'd've given over to He Who Must Not Be Named if Peter hadn't caught on!" Hagrid yelled, as he spoke, he saw a look of pure hatred come over Sirius' face, he guessed it was mirrored in his own expression.

"Peter Pettigrew is a rat, and probably alive if I had to guess. I would have died rather than betray Lily and James." Sirius spoke calmly, but his face was a storm.

"Yer lying, you killed all of em. Even Dumbledore says yer guilty and he always assumes the best in folks." Hagrid said, he had been on the receiving end of Albus Dumbledore's presumptions of innocence many times including the offense that had landed him in Azkaban.

"Oh Hagrid, you may be correct about me killing Lily and James, but not because I betrayed them to Voldemort. Lily and James asked me to be their secret keeper, but I thought it would be too obvious if it was me. I convinced them to go with Peter and we told no one. Not even Albus, Peter was the least likely to be used in such an important role, so we thought he would be the safest option." Sirius said, with a look of genuine sadness in his eyes. "We never even suspected that Peter would go to Voldemort and give them up immediately. We knew there was a spy in the order, but Peter was completely out of the question, he was too much of a coward to be the spy." Sirius stopped there. Looking out of his cell but seeing nothing, he continued, "So, you are right, I killed Lily and James, but only by telling them to put their trust in the wrong person."

"So that's why you killed Pettigrew then?" Hagrid asked, still unsure whether he believed any of Sirius' words. "Why wouldn't you tell Dumbledore all of this as soon as the murders happened? He would have been able to help you stop him."

"I was furious when I realized what had happened. Once I saw that Harry was safe, I went after Peter, looking for answers. I would have killed him, too, but the rat blew up an entire street, cut off his own finger and transformed to escape." Sirius said, all the anger that Hagrid had seen earlier back in his voice. "I suppose you could put all of the muggles that Peter killed on my hands also, considering I confronted him and caused that reaction."

"You still haven't told me why you wouldn't tell anyone this before now," Hagrid said, part of him wanting to believe all of it. "Dumbledore would have believed you if you told him the truth."

"I didn't get a trial, Hagrid, and I didn't get to see anyone before being shipped here. I suppose they forgot about me soon after, in all the celebrations and other trials." Sirius lifted the tattered sleeve of his robe, now and held out his arm. Hagrid had seen many death eaters during the war, and knew that where there should be a dark mark tattooed into his skin, there was only skin. "I know this may not convince you, Hagrid, but I was never a death eater, and I hate Voldemort with my entire being." He rolled his sleeve down now, and Hagrid looked down thoughtfully.

"You said Pettigrew cut off his own finger and transformed?" Hagrid asked.

"Yes, we all spent nearly a year becoming animagi, Peter took a bit longer than the rest of us, but eventually he became one also." Sirius said.

"So he should be registered as one then, no one thought of this before?" Hagrid asked.

"We never registered, we planned on doing it after we got done at Hogwarts, but never got around to it with the war in full swing. We thought it would help us in the effort too, because Voldemort wouldn't know we were animagi. I guess that was pointless though, Peter probably told him everything." Sirius said.

"What could pettigrew turn into, then?" Hagrid asked.

"Haven't you guessed, it should have been obvious to us from the start. A rat." Sirius said, Hagrid puzzled over this for a moment before the most unsettling thought passed over him.

"What finger did he cut off?" Hagrid asked, scared for the answer.

"I'm not sure anymore, why?" Sirius asked, confusion clear on his face.

"Because the Weasleys have a rat, been missing a finger for as long as I've known 'em. Lived a damn long time, too. Longer 'an any rat I've ever seen." Hagrid said. Sirius looked up at him with an expression of pure terror.

"Does that mean?" Sirius started.

"Pettigrew is in Hogwarts." Hagrid finished. He had to warn Dumbledore.


	3. Chapter 2: Hagrid's Warning

**Chapter 2: Hagrid's Warning**

Hagrid was released near the end of the term, after Harry and Ron managed to somehow kill a full grown Basilisk with a the sword of Gryffindor. He arrived in the great hall during dinner with only one intention. To warn Dumbledore about the possibility that Sirius had made him aware of.

He marched straight to the head table and found Dumbledore talking jovially with Minerva about something one of the house elves had found in the hufflepuff common room. "Dumbledore, we need to talk, in private please." He said, and seeing the look on McGonagall's face, threw in, "Sorry Minerva, I just have some important information for the headmaster."

"Alright, Hagrid. Let's step outside then." Albus said, a look of concern on his face. They walked down the rows of tables, not even stopping to speak to any of the students that were seemingly overjoyed to see Hagrid back in the school. "Now, what did you need to tell me so urgently?"

"I think Harry may be in danger," Hagrid started, and realized that was probably always the case, so he continued. "There's someone in the castle that might be trying to kill him."

"If this is about Severus, Hagrid, I'd ask that you drop it now. I trust professor Snape as completely as I trust you." Dumbledore said, his disappointment clear in his tone.

"It isn't about Snape, it's about Peter Pettigrew." Hagrid said.

"Peter is dead, rest his soul." Dumbledore said, "Where is this coming from, Hagrid?"

"I talked to Sirius Black while I was in Azkaban. He told me," Hagrid started before the headmaster interrupted.

"Sirius Black is a murderer. Why were you talking to him at all Hagrid?" Dumbledore looked even more disappointed now.

"I know, I thought the same, but just hear me out." Hagrid said, before dumbledore grabbed his arm and with a loud _pop_ they appeared in the headmaster's study.

"I'd prefer if you just showed me, Hagrid." Dumbledore said, pulling the penseive from its' cabinet. Hagrid had done this before, and when the headmaster put his wand to Hagrid's head, he had the memory of his talk with Sirius at the front of his mind. When the headmaster placed the silvery strand of memory into the dark liquid of the penseive, and bent into the bowl, he could only watch and hope that Albus believed Sirius and took his warning to heart.

When the headmaster returned from the memory, he moved quickly. Calling for Fawkes as he walked quickly to his desk. He whispered something to the majestic bird, who flew from the study seconds later. "Hagrid, go to the great hall and bring Ronald Weasley here, do not tell him anything that you've told me. I will send for Harry, I think he should be here for this.

Hagrid reached the great hall just as the feast was ending. Ron walked out followed by Hermione and nearly ran head first into Hagrid. "Alright there Ron?" He said, keeping his usual jovial tone as best he could. "Hermione." He said, nodding. "I was wonderin' if the two of you would come with me? Dumbledore and I need some more information about the whole Chamber o Secrets situation."

Ron looked a little green in the face after he heard what it was about, but he swallowed hard and nodded. Hagrid led the two of them toward the headmaster's office, and found the stairs already open and waiting for them to arrive. They walked up the spiral staircase to find Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Cornelius Fudge, Molly and Arthur Weasley, and Harry waiting for them.

"Can you please tell us why you've called all of us here at this hour, Albus, I'm a very busy man." Cornelius Fudge said, impatiently.

"Of course, Cornelius, now that everyone is here, I have a question for you, young Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said, "Where is your rat?"

Ron looked confused, but dug in the pocket of his cloak and pulled Scabbers from within. Dumbledore reached and plucked the animal from Ron's hands, placing it on the a table that he summoned into the middle of the group. "A strange animal, wouldn't you say, Arthur?"

"Scabbers? He's been in the family for years, the older boys found him pretty soon after Ron was born, why?" Arthur asked.

"Isn't it curious, though, that he's survived this long?" Dumbledore asked, eyeing the rat on the table knowingly. "Minerva, would you kindly tell me how to identify an Animagus? I seem to be drawing a blank."

"Albus, can you just get to the point?" McGonagall said, knowing that the headmaster was only drawing out whatever conclusion he was going to come to.

"As you wish," he said, pointing his wand at the rat sleeping on the table. A moment passed, then the rat began to grow larger and larger, until the sleeping rat became a sleeping man. He still resembled a rat, he was short, fat, and his nose twitched almost incessantly.


	4. Chapter 3: Scabber's Secret

**A/N:** _The response to the last few chapters was positive, so I decided to go ahead and upload the next one. Expect another update Friday._

 **Chapter 3: Scabbers' Secret**

"Bloody hell," Ron said, "Scabbers?"

"This is, in fact, Peter Pettigrew." Dumbledore said, "and I'm almost certain that he was the Potter's secret keeper, not Sirius Black.

"But that means…" Fudge began, before Dumbledore finished his thought for him.

"That Sirius Black is innocent, yes." At this moment, the man on the table began to stir, waking.

"Stupefy!" Dumbledore said, stunning him before he could fully regain consciousness.

The minister of magic looked troubled, like he had seen a ghost as the muggles would say. Dumbledore spelled ropes across the table to bind the rat like man in place. "Severus, if you would, keep your wand trained on our new, old friend, and be sure he doesn't attempt to transform and escape."

The anger on professor Snape's face was more palpable than Hagrid had ever seen, he could almost feel the heat radiating from across the room. He was sure, then, that Pettigrew was going nowhere, and it would be stupid to even try. "With pleasure," Snape snarled, drawing his wand.

Dumbledore pointed his wand at the man lying on the table also, and Peter Pettigrew awoke with a startled expression on his face. It seemed to take him a few moments to realize he was a man and not a rodent, but when he did the terror he felt was nearly as strong as the anger that Snape had displayed. "Hello, Peter," Dumbledore began, "It's been far too long."

"Dumbledore?" Peter gasped, "H-h-how did you- Where am I?" He was twitching more than before, now, and with every movement, Hagrid saw the man less, and the rat more.

"Oh, you're in hogwarts, I don't suppose you have anything to say for yourself?" Dumbledore replied.

"I-I-I-I don't understand," Pettigrew sputtered.

"Let me enlighten you, then," Dumbledore began, "I have it on good authority that you were, in fact, Lily and James' secret keeper."

"N-n-n-no, that was Sirius, he brought their location to the Dark Lord," Pettigrew said, unconvincingly.

"Oh, well then you won't mind if I have Severus use veritaserum before I ask you again," Dumbledore said, and Snape moved forward. He produced a small vial out of his cloak pocket and poured a couple of drops into the smaller man's mouth. "Now, who was the Potters' secret keeper?"

Pettigrew looked like he was trying to push out a particularly troublesome bowel movement, but after a moment his whole body went slack. "I was," he said, "But I couldn't keep the secret from the Dark Lord, he would have killed me."

"Of that, I have no doubt." Dumbledore said, "I also have no doubt that if the positions were reversed, Lily and James would have both gladly died to protect their friends." Hagrid chanced a glance at Harry, who was sitting silently in the corner, clenching his fists.

"W-w-w-what are you going to do with me now," Pettigrew asked.

"I suppose that is up to the person you've wronged the most here," Dumbledore said, a fire in his eyes that Hagrid hadn't seen since the war, "Harry, what do you think?"

Cornelius looked at Dumbledore quickly, "Now, listen Albus," he started, "this isn't up to Harry, I'm the Minister of Magic."

Dumbledore ignored the minister, "Harry?"

Harry stood up and walked across the room to stand over the man on the table, who started shaking nervously, "H-h-h-harry, Lily wouldn't want-"

"DO NOT SAY HER NAME!" Hagrid had expected the voice he heard to be Harry's, but he looked up to see Snape standing with his wand pointed straight at Pettigrew's forehead, screaming. Hagrid was sure he was going to kill the man, until a man on a broom flew into the headmaster's study. Everyone looked up to see a tall, thin man standing at the door.

"Oh, hello Remus," Dumbledore said, "I have one of your old friends here."

"Peter? How did this happen?" the man in the doorway asked, voice shaking slightly.

"REMUS! Thank Merlin you're here! They're going to kill me!" The rat-like man on the table said in a pleading tone.

"Oh Wormtail, you actually think that I'm here to save you." Remus said, "I'm here to help them." He drew his wand, and pointed it at Pettigrew, along with everyone else. Only Fudge still held his by his side.

"I think he's right, professor," Harry said, "My mother wouldn't want him dead, Azkaban sounds quite as bad as death any way."

Dumbledore smiled now, "I believe you are correct, Harry," he said, "Cornelius, your aurors can come retrieve him now."

The minister nodded quickly and disappeared with a _pop_. "I thought you couldn't apparate in or out of Hogwarts," Hermione said, confused.

"I have taken the wards down for precisely this purpose, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, "The aurors will be here momentarily, Hagrid, if you would take the students back to Gryffindor tower, I'm sure they have quite the story to tell their friends."

"O' course," Hagrid said, moving them toward the staircase, at the last moment, however, he turned to face the headmaster, "What about Sirius?"

"Mr. Black will be released by the morning, I will personally see to it." Dumbledore said, "It's time Harry met his godfather."


	5. Chapter 4: Everything is Going to Change

**A/N:** _It's a two for one special, because I got really bored I decided to throw two chapters up today, enjoy. See you Friday._

 **Chapter 4: Worth A Million Galleons**

Harry woke up very early the next morning. Too early, in fact, to leave the Gryffindor common room. The fat lady in the painting would almost definitely go report him to McGonagall after all the fuss he caused during his first two years in Hogwarts. So he walked down the stairway into the common room, deciding it would be impossible to go back to sleep now, and when he arrived he realized he wasn't the only one that had woken up earlier than normal, not even close.

He looked around the common room, and realized he knew very few of the people inside. After puzzling over this for a moment, he understood the reason was that none of them were actually students, not anymore anyway. The headmaster, professor McGonagall, the adult Weasleys, and the man that Pettigrew had called Remus were all there, along with at least 12 other men and women had taken over the common room. One of them that Harry didn't recognize noticed him standing at the base of the stairway after a few moments and smiled. "'Morning Potter," the largest man in the room, clearly an important man based on how he carried himself, said, "You're up sooner than we expected."

"Sorry?" Harry said, still confused. Dumbledore stepped out from the group of older witches and wizards and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, there's someone that you need to meet," he said, smiling. "He might look a bit, unkempt, but I assure you he's harmless." McGonagall made a dismissive noise in her throat, "Well, mostly harmless anyway," Dumbledore corrected. "When your father was in school here, he had a very close knit group of friends, quite like you and young Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger." Dumbledore said, pausing to look over his shoulder at the stairs. Harry guessed without looking that some other boys had gotten up to see what the commotion was. He wondered how he hadn't heard all the adults talking from his dormitory. "You saw two of them last night, Remus Lupin," the man Harry had recognized from his entrance the night before nodded with a slight smirk, "Peter Pettigrew," everyone in the room tensed up a bit and Harry could almost feel the anger coming from the crowd, "and Sirius Black, your godfather. We, as you can surely understand considering we thought he had murdered Peter and turned over your parents, kept him secret from you and were planning to tell you upon your graduation from school. Now, with the new information we have, I thought it only right to introduce you to the man who will, if you agree to it, be your new legal guardian in eyes of Magical Britain."

"I can take it from here, Albus," a man in the back of the crowd said, stepping forward. Harry understood why Dumbledore had told him that the man was harmless, because he looked anything but. He had clearly tried to tame his long hair, to no avail. His black robes, tattered and torn, were partially covered by an oversized coat that looked like it had been borrowed from Hagrid, considering how it swallowed the starved-looking man in front of him. "I guess introductions have been handled now, thanks to your headmaster. This is all very strange, I'm sure, and I can assure you I don't normally look like a madman." McGonagall made a strange noise again. "Well, not as much of a madman I suppose," the man laughed. "Your dad and I might be to blame for your tendency to, um, bend the rules a bit."

"You two are more to blame for me bending the rules than Harry, I'd say," Lupin said.

"Shut up Moony, you were the mastermind," Sirius said, winking at Harry.

"So you and my mum and dad were close in school?" Harry asked.

Sirius laughed at the question for a moment. "Your mum didn't care for me or your father much in school, though. She came around eventually, but in school she was always mad at us for losing house points or sneaking around causing all sorts of mischief."

"Did you just call him Moony?" Harry heard one of the twins ask, and when he turned around he saw a look of admiration on both of their faces that he had never seen either of them use.

Sirius nodded, "You two must be Arthur's, quite the pranksters I've heard. Seems like you may even give us a run for our money."

Fred, or George, ran up the stairwell after that, calling out that he'd be right back. When he returned he had a folded piece of parchment in his hands. "I think this is yours, then."

Sirius looked at the paper smiling, then he looked up at the twins, "I'm flattered, I haven't signed an autograph since quidditch in school." He signed the paper _Padfoot_ , which Harry thought was strange, and handed it back to the Twins, who looked at it like it was worth a million Galleons.

Something inside Harry told him everything was about to change.


	6. Chapter 5: Good Riddance

****A/N: I'm not sure if it's impressive or not, but over 800 views now! I know the POV changed, but it'll be jumping between Hagrid and Harry's POV from time to time.****

 **Chapter 5: Good Riddance**

Harry was more nervous than he had ever been leaving Hogwarts, usually he dreaded leaving but this was a different kind of feeling. He was going to spend an entire summer only seeing the Dursleys once. Professor Dumbledore insisted that every year he go to the dursleys and have a meal once, but with Sirius coming with him that shouldn't be a problem. It may even be entertaining. He disembarked the train at King's Cross and had some trouble finding Sirius in the crowd. He had expected him to look better since he had been released, but the transformation was incredible. Sirius had obviously been to a barber shop (his hair was still long, but obviously well kept now), and he wore muggle apparel but not in the mismatched way that most of the parents did. He stood next to Arthur weasley, who was likely the only other parent that had dressed normally. Most of them still wore robes and those that didn't would be clearly out of place on any muggle street.

Harry walked quickly to them, followed by a gaggle of redheads, and Sirius smiled down at him. "Have a good trip?" He asked, grabbing Harry's trunk and placing it on a cart. "If you don't mind, it looks like we'll be going to Arthur's for supper, I'm not much of a cook and I'm not sure if I trust Kreature to cook without poisoning us." Just then, an elf that looked like an old, angry version of Dobby appeared on the platform.

"Master calls Kreature?" He spat.

"No, you insolent little devil," Sirius said, "I was only telling Harry here that you couldn't be trusted to cook for us without the food being tested for all manner of poisons." With that, Kreature seemed to consider himself dismissed and disappeared with a _pop_. "So, you see why we're likely never going to eat at home?"

Harry was fine with this development, Mrs Weasley was likely the best cook he had ever met. As Harry and Sirius walked to the car, through the muggle part of King's Cross, Vernon Dursley walked toward him, red faced. "You're late, Petunia and I have company coming tonight and now we'll be late having supper ready. You'll spend the whole Summer locked in your room if you keep this up." Harry looked at Sirius who was clearly trying to contain his laughter.

"Vernon Dursley I assume, Lily's brother in law?" Sirius asked, "They told me you were fat, but I didn't expect you to be so.. Round." he said, laughing in earnest now.

"And who are you?" Vernon asked, even more red in the face now. "One of his kind, I assume. You almost look normal if you'd cut your hair."

"I could say the same to you, Dursley." Sirius said, leaving the man confused, "I'll be taking my godson with me from now on, but don't worry, you'll still see him for dinner next Monday."

They walked past the fat man, whose face had broken into a wide smile. "Well good riddance then."

Harry guessed, correctly, that his uncle hadn't yet understood that Sirius had told him that they'd be there in under a week. He followed his godfather into the parking lot, wondering what type of car he had managed to find so quickly after being released, but they just walked through the seemingly endless lines of cars to the side of the road, where Sirius stood holding his wand out like a muggle hailing a cab with cash. "What are you doing?"

Sirius just winked, "Wait for it." So Harry waited, but he needn't wait very long, a moment later a triple-decker bus appeared out of nowhere.

"Took you long enough Ern," Sirius laughed as a goofy looking man jumped out and clapped Sirius on the shoulder.

"'Ell, we can't be e'erywhere all at once can we?" the man said, "Ern seen a man with a peg for a leg an 'e thought it was a wand, scared 'im half ter death when the bus stopped."

They stepped on the bus after the strange man took Harry's trunk and stored it under the bus. "Where'll it be Sirius?" the man, who apparently wasn't Ern, asked.

"The new house, I suppose. Wouldn't want to expose Harry to the old family home just yet, I'm afraid my dear mother left quite the welcome there." Sirius said, and off they went careening down streets where traffic was at a standstill. They weaved between cars and busses at speeds that should've been impossible for a bus this large, and Harry could have sworn the bus jumped over a train at one point. After what was probably the most exhilarating bus ride anyone had ever been on, the bus stopped in front of a large house, possibly the largest that Harry had ever seen.

"Nice house," Harry said, awestruck.

"It's a bit big for my tastes, but being the patriarch of one of the oldest pureblood lines comes with some.. Perks." Sirius sounded uncomfortable about his blood status, but Harry was just excited to be somewhere that he wasn't confined to a cupboard all day.

"It's incredible. Really." Harry said.

It was the type of house Harry had only seen in movies. Everything was perfect, but not in the same way the Dursley's house had been. The lawn was kept up, but there was the occasional spot that was missed. Harry had missed a spot in the Dursley's lawn once and they had made him go fix it with arts and crafts scissors.

They walked into the house and Harry was greeted by Dobby, the house elf.


	7. Chapter 6: The Return of the King

**A/N:** It has become clear to me that my chapters are much shorter than I originally realized, so I'll be making them a bit longer from here on out.

 **Chapter 6: The Return of the King**

"Harry Potter is home!" Dobby squealed, grabbing Harry around the leg. "I was waiting all day!"

"He insisted on staying here when he heard you were coming. He even took the liberty of getting your room ready." Sirius said, amused. "I've never seen a free house elf before, it's strange. His taste in clothes really needs work."

Harry saw that this was true. Dobby had taken to clothes, but he hadn't had much guidance in what to use as clothing. He wore a pair of trousers with ducks on them, and a shirt that was the most awful shade of green Harry had ever seen. He still wore the sock Harry had given him on one foot, and a christmas stocking on the other. It was easily the oddest assortment of clothes Harry had ever seen.

Dobby led Harry through the home quickly, until they arrived at the door to what he assumed was his room. Dobby opened the door, and Harry was even more amazed. The room he saw took his breath away.

His entire room had been made to look like the common room in Gryffindor tower. All the way down to the fireplace. "I thought I'd make it feel a little more like home, and Dobby said this would be better than your aunt and uncle's house."

"I'll say," Harry said, "It would be pretty hard to make this look like a cupboard under the stairs."

Harry spent the next few hours exploring the house. Quite a few rooms were entirely empty, Harry guessed houses this large must have that problem fairly often. The Weasleys probably couldn't fill this house if they were all there. Harry found some rooms incredibly interesting. There was one room with four fireplaces, Harry assumed these were to access the floo network. There was also a closet filled with broomsticks, most of these would make the Weasley's brooms look state of the art, but there was Harry's Nimbus 2000 and two Nimbus 2001s, Harry silently wondered who the second one was for, but put that thought aside.

The room Harry was the most impressed with was the library. It had to have been magically enlarged to make room for the sheer amount of books inside. Hermione would likely never see this room, and if she did, she was unlikely to ever leave. "I have to say, I wouldn't expect a second year to be so interested in the library." Sirius said, Harry hadn't even noticed him sitting in the corner at a small desk.

"I was just thinking about how Hermione would react to seeing this place." Harry said. "She might not ever leave if she found it." Sirius chuckled slightly at hearing this.

"There's always one," Sirius said, and upon seeing Harry's confused expression, continued, "a Gryffindor that spends more time studying than they do getting into trouble. It's a wonder we ever win a house cup."

Harry looked at the desk his godfather was sitting at and saw a pile of wadded up parchment strew all around it. "Writer's block?" Harry asked.

"You could say so," Sirius said, "trying to write up a resume, can't just sit around here all the time. But, it's time to leave it for now, we'll be late for supper."

The burrow was even more packed than usual with Harry and Sirius there, Charlie and Bill had both come home to see Ginny after her ordeal. Ginny almost seemed back to normal, now, other than the fact that she didn't squeak and run from any room that Harry was in. Harry thought this must be a positive development. Mrs. Weasley ushered them all out into the garden, where tables and chairs had been set up for the larger than usual crowd. When they all sat down, Harry noticed there were still three empty chairs. The twins and Sirius were missing, Harry noticed, and an uneasy feeling set over him. This feeling ended up saving him from the fate of the rest of the table, because at that very moment, as he stood up to go find his godfather, everyone else's chairs vanished. When everyone was sprawled on the ground, the plates and food all lifted off of the table and started flying in circles around the house at varying speeds.

Harry stood there, surrounded by flying food, laughing at how lucky he had been to see that the twins were missing.

After the mayhem at supper, they all eventually laughed about it except Mrs. Weasley who was still slightly upset all the way until Sirius apologized profusely, saying he only wanted to show his fans how they did it in his day. Harry thought it was odd that Sirius referred to the twins as his fans, and decided he would ask about it when they got home. The evening was actually fairly normal. They played a full game of quidditch in the paddock. Harry and Charlie played against each other as the seekers. Charlie was much faster than Harry had expected, and nearly beat him even on his much slower broom a couple times by taking better angles. After a hard fought game, Harry caught the snitch (actually a muggle golf ball that had been enchanted to fly very erratically) and both teams claimed that they were the winners. The argument that followed this game was heated, and eventually ended in Ginny threatening to hex everyone with bat-bogeys if they didn't drop it.

All in all, Harry considered this to be the best first day of summer of his life. He was even looking forward to seeing the Dursleys the week after, especially considering the prank his godfather had pulled on the Weasleys. All he could think about was how the Dursleys would react to seeing their chairs disappear and the food flying in circles. He would have to get in on the planning of that one.

After they left the burrow, he and Sirius went back to the massive house, Harry had some trouble finding his way to his room, but luckily ran into Dobby, who was overly excited to help. Harry was glad he was hanging around, though, at least it meant he was truly free of the Malfoys. How an elf like Dobby had survived the Malfoys for as long as he had was beyond Harry, however.

Harry lay in his bed that night, thinking about Lucius Malfoy sneaking Tom Riddle's diary into Ginny's school books, and felt an anger he had never felt creep into his stomach. He felt his face burning, and his fists clenching, but he couldn't stop them. He laid there, in a silent rage, for what must have been hours before he finally went to sleep.

The weekend saw Harry and Sirius mostly just staying around the mansion, Harry had decided that was what he would call it regardless of if the word was technically correct or not, and reading. Sirius had apparently finished his resume, or had given up entirely, as there weren't balled up pieces of parchment scattered around his desk. On sunday evening, however, Sirius walked into Harry's room carrying both of the Nimbus 2001s.

"I know you've got your own, and I wouldn't expect you to play quidditch on this overpriced newer model, but I got them as part of my reparations from the ministry and I thought we could both do with getting out of the house for a while." Harry's eyes lit up at the thought of flying, and of getting outside.

They flew over the property, Sirius showed Harry where a stream ran through some of the wooded areas near the house. Harry silently made a note to himself to spend as much time there as he could, he wasn't a great swimmer by any means but he enjoyed the sound and feel of the running water. Harry also noticed that when Sirius said they were nearing the property line, they almost immediately came upon a familiar sight. It was a town Harry hadn't ever seen, but that felt vaguely familiar. They flew down to the street, Harry following Sirius, and landed in front of a run down house. It was more of a ruin, really, than a house. Everything seemed broken, the door was hanging by one hinge, which was impressive considering it was split into three pieces.

Harry looked up at Sirius and noticed tears streaming down his face. To his credit though, his voice didn't crack when he spoke. "I remember the first time I saw this place," he started, "Your parents had just moved here, and were a bit more excited than I thought they would be, considering they left Potter Manor because Death Eaters had attacked it the week before. James told me to meet him for drinks in a little pub down the street." Sirius' eyes looked miles, or years, away. "This was before Voldemort made it a personal mission to find them, so the death eaters were only after them because they were part of the Order. Moving to such a normal house should have been enough at that point, and it was for a long time. That night James told me Lily was pregnant with you. We went back here and celebrated in a house that was mostly empty, Remus and Peter joined us of course, I don't know if this was before or after Peter became a spy for the Death Eaters." His face changed now, from sadness to pure rage. "It's my fault, Harry, and I'm so sorry. I should've done so many things differently. I should have become their secret keeper when they asked me. I should have stayed with you instead of chasing Peter after he betrayed us. I should have been here for you, instead I let my anger control me and landed myself in Azkaban."

Harry just stood there, words failed him. He knew it wasn't Sirius' fault, but the gravity of this place and what had happened here had taken his mind entirely away from Sirius. He started walking toward the door, leaving Sirius standing by the street. He walked into the house, not expecting what he found, and saw that the ruins on the outside were in much better condition than the inside, except for one room. The room where it had happened had been left exactly as it was, even the crib was in tact. Harry sat on the floor in the corner of the room, and cried for hours.


	8. Chapter 8: A Demented Destination

**Chapter 8: A Demented Destination**

Harry's return to the Dursley's came much later than originally intended, it was nearly time to return to Hogwarts when he and his godfather appeared in the backyard of their house. Harry's stomach hurt just looking at the place, he wondered if they had given Dursley his bedroom, or if his cupboard was full of cleaning supplies like he assumed most cupboards were. Sirius didn't seem to share his thoughts, seeing as he walked right up to the back door and knocked, hard.

"Vernon! There's someone at the back door!" Harry heard Petunia's shrill voice carry though the open kitchen window.

"The back door?" his uncle Vernon's voice still held that constantly annoyed tone Harry had become accustomed to.

The door swung open and the look on the man's face made the entire trip worth it.

"I would say I apologize for dropping by unannounced," Sirius said, bowing slightly, "but I couldn't keep a straight face while saying it." He shouldered past the man, as if the dumbfounded man wasn't even there. "Hello, Petunia. Supper smells wonderful, I can't wait." He sat down at the table and summoned Kreature, who appeared holding a large stone goblet, much closer to Petunia than he was required to. Petunia screamed when the house elf appeared, and nearly dropped the plates she was carrying. Harry chuckled as the house elf walked over to Sirius and handed him the goblet, before disappearing with a loud crack.

"You brought the boy back, then?" Vernon said, seemingly regaining his senses. "Well, we won't have him, or any of his kind in this house anymore."

"I've only brought him back into this house because he's required to return once every year until his seventeenth birthday, Dumbledore's orders." Sirius said, "As for his kind, I sincerely doubt any witch or wizard would ever willingly step foot into this place, it's just so.. Disgustingly ordinary." He leaned back in his chair and slapped the table, "So, when's supper."

The subsequent meal was easily the most enjoyable Harry had ever been a part of at the Dursley's. Sirius made it a point to do everything with magic, summoning the food to his plate, and even calling on Kreature and Dobby for very small tasks just to see the Dursley's jump. After they finished eating, he and Sirius walked out of the house, mounted their brooms, and flew away, hoping the neighbors had seen them.

The day Harry was set to return to Hogwarts was bittersweet for the first time. He hadn't ever wanted to leave the school in the past, but now he had a home and family that he was not looking forward to leaving. He packed his trunk the night before leaving, which was actually unpacked this year, instead of being locked under the stairs. He also coaxed Hedwig back into her cage, which Sirius informed him was unnecessary and the bird would find her way to the school should he just leave her there. He looked over his room one last time, being sure he wasn't forgetting anything, and departed for King's Cross station.

Arriving anywhere in the magical world had always came with it's fair share of whispers and staring, but arriving with Sirius Black somehow made the whole thing much more of a spectacle. Instead of whispering about the Boy-Who-Lived, they were whispering about Sirius, the man who had spent years wrongly imprisoned at what was easily the worst prison in magical Europe. His exoneration had been newsworthy, but his reinstatement into the Wizengamot was almost unheard of. Now Dumbledore and Sirius were both in the Wizengamot and it had become much easier for them to push the Order's agenda in the ministry.

Harry enjoyed not being the most talked about person on the platform for once, and chuckled a bit when he noticed how uncomfortable Sirius seemed. He felt guilty afterward, though, because he knew the feeling all too well. Sirius was clearly relieved when he noticed the Weasley clan standing near the train, helping Ginny with her trunk. Harry and Sirius walked briskly toward them, ignoring the whispers as they passed the families saying their goodbyes.

By the time they reached them, all of their trunks were loaded and the Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were bidding their two youngest children goodbye for the term. Ron helped Harry with his trunk, and Harry returned to say his goodbyes to Sirius and he found the man talking to Arthur Weasley.

"Have you forgotten anything?" Sirius asked, looking concerned as Harry walked toward him.

"No, just coming to say bye." Harry said.

"Oh, is it that time already?" Sirius asked, "I have something for you." He pulled out a small piece of parchment with the Hogwarts seal on it, and Harry's eyes lit up when he saw that it was a permission slip for Hogsmeade weekends.

"Thanks Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, "I completely forgot about Hogsmeade."

"Don't mention it, Harry." Sirius said, before squatting down to get on Harry's eye level, "I've instructed Dobby to keep an eye on you during Hogsmeade weekends, Peter is still out there, and he'll be actively supporting the death eaters now that they've broken him out of the Ministry."

"I'll probably have to worry more about Malfoy and his thugs than Pettigrew," Harry said, glancing toward the Malfoy family, all three of them were glaring at Sirius and Harry. "They don't seem very happy to see us."

"I would hope not, I took half of Lucius' political standing when I was exonerated, and he's lost his best spy in the castle." Harry had realized that Pettigrew had likely been feeding information on him to the Death Eaters, it was the only reason they would have risked attacking the Ministry to free him. "One last thing," Sirius said in a lower tone, bringing Harry's attention back to him, "If the train stops, do not open any doors, the guards from Azkaban are supposedly going to be stationed around the castle grounds, and they're nasty. I asked Albus to have Aurors or professors on the train, just in case the Dementors try to search it. Remus is on board already, so you'll likely see him wandering through the compartments. Take this just in case." Sirius placed a bar of chocolate into Harry's hand, Harry looked puzzled. "It'll help," Sirius chuckled, "Promise."

Nothing could have prepared Harry for the feeling the Dementors brought to him. It was like reliving all of his worst moments at the same time. He nearly fainted when one boarded the train to search for Pettigrew, before he remembered the chocolate, Sirius had been right that it helped. The dementor started to pass by their compartment, but stopped and looked into the door at Harry. The memories flooded him again, but before he could faint (he was sure that he was going to faint for a moment) a white light flooded the compartment, pushing the dementor forcefully out of the compartment, and likely the entire train. He looked up from his place in the compartment and saw Remus Lupin, wand raised, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Dementors," he spat, "The minister making them search a train full of students," He shook his head, clearly disgusted, "Peter isn't stupid enough to come back into Hogwarts, not with the headmaster aware of his animagus form. Having dementors anywhere near the castle is a mistake." He checked on the children in the compartment with Harry; Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all fairly shaken up, but otherwise okay, Harry still felt as if he might pass out, but Remus gave him another chocolate bar, and he was much better.

For the first time since he received his letter on his eleventh birthday, Harry was not excited about arriving at the castle.


End file.
